Authorities in New Zealand have confirmed that at least six people had died in a fire in a Wellington hostel on Tuesday.

There is still fear as many as 10 may have perished in the blaze.

Fire crews were alerted to the blaze at the 92-room hostel in central Wellington at about 12:30 a.m. (1230 GMT).

The building had yet to be thoroughly searched due to extensive damage, said fire and emergency incident commander Bruce Stubbs.

“Six bodies had been located so far but were yet to be removed from the building,” Mr Stubbs said.

Acting district commander for Wellington police, Dion Bennett, would not be drawn on how many people remained missing.

Police said they believed the deceased was fewer than 10, with 11 people still missing.

“We are yet to fully reconcile a list of all those people who were here last night; we will not speculate on how many people were here and where they have gone,” Mr Bennett said.

Police would enter the building on Wednesday after it is safe, he added.

The blaze was being treated as suspicious, but police did not believe it had been deliberately lit.

Fifty-two people escaped from the building, with at least five rescued from the roof by fire crews. Five people were taken to hospital, with two in serious condition.

Fire and emergency district manager commander Nick Pyatt said the blaze was the worst nightmare for crews.

He said, “This is a once-in-a-decade fire for Wellington.”

At its peak, 29 fire crews of more than 80 firefighters attended the blaze, Mr Pyatt said.

Wellington lawmaker, Grant Robertson, said there were some highly traumatised people at an evacuation centre who had survived the fire.

“Many people there have lost absolutely everything they had,” Mr Robertson said. 

(dpa/NAN)